Ollie, Ava and Baby Opal

Just before our trip to St. George, we stopped to see our new baby niece, Opal.  Jamie, my rockstar sister-in-law, had just given birth to Opal in a birthing center without any medication.  Just hearing her birth story got me all excited for whenever my next birth may be!

I also had a chance to play outside with Ollie and Ava in their magical backyard. Ava showed me the fairy meadow, the crystal forest and her stage (an old stump).

Fall Family Photos

Thanks to Nicole for taking these family photos for us!  We love them!  You can see more of Nicole's work here.

Enjoy your weekend!  We are still on a little vacation and are enjoying every moment of it!

My Family

While I was in PA, we were hoping to find a fun location and take some nice pictures.  Well, obviously other things came up, but we did manage to head to the backyard for some quick photos.  Tali and Shane dressed up in their Sunday best...kind of.  Unfortunately Cyle had to go to a meeting, so he's not in any of these.  I love these crazy people.

Please note they posed themselves in these next three. :)

Tali is very proud of her calf muscle I guess...

Tomorrow I'll be back with regular posting!  Thanks for hanging in there while I took a little break.

Jessica's Graduation Party: Part Two

Bear with me because part two is more for family and friends in attendance.  Here are the pictures of some of the guests.

Chef Dave and his assistant, Shane.  Love that little brother of mine.

I was coveting her darling baby bump the whole party!  She is the most beautiful pregnant lady!

Family Photos

Melanie and I did our picture exchange yesterday.  It was so fun!  I finished my elastic band skirt just in time before the shoot.  I bought more Amy Butler fabric to coordinate with the fabric I used for Rilo's dress.  More on the skirt (plus a little giveaway) tomorrow!  For now, how cute is little Rilo Jane's dress?!

See more photo's on the baby blog here.

Family Photos

Saturday we had Sheena Jibson over to take some photos of our new little family. She did such a great job capturing what I wanted: us just hanging out as a family. Nice and classic. I love them! You can check out a sneak peek of a few more on her photo blog.

{images from Sheena}

Before I found Sheena's photo blog, I found her everyday blog. I've been reading daily for a LONG time now...I felt like already knew her even though we'd never met. She has the most hilarious stories, cute kids, great pictures and yummy (healthy!) recipes. She is inspiring me to make lots and lots of homemade bread!

Traditions, Traditions

Last week, on Etsy's front page, I spotted this adorable Love plate. Besides being a cute Valentine's Day gift, it reminded me of something I have been thinking about lately. With our baby's birth coming soon, and Adam's birthday in 2 weeks, I've been thinking a lot about family traditions. Adam and I have already started a few of our own, but I've been thinking about other fun traditions we could start now that we'll have a little one. I read somewhere in the blogosphere about having a special plate designated for each person in the family. The plate gets used only on certain occasions, like birthdays or if they accomplish something special, etc. I'm thinking that might be something fun one to start.

{More of Nina in Vorm's custom plates}

I want to continue my Mom's tradition of making every little holiday special. Every Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, or whatever little holiday it happened to be, we found a card, themed socks or a shirt, and some kind of accessory at the breakfast table. It wasn't about being an extravagant gift, but just a little something to show us that she loved us. Each half birthday, she would make a few cupcakes for us...again, just to let us know she was thinking about us. Little traditions like that are some of my favorite memories of childhood!

So now I'm asking you...Do you have any fun family traditions you would like to share? I would love some more ideas!